Month: February 2016

Book of the Week | Where My Heart Used To Beat by Sebastian Faulks

~ Danielle Olson ~ Leave a comment

cover78682-mediumTITLE: Where My Heart Used To Beat

AUTHOR: Sebastian Faulks

PUBLISHER: Henry & Holt

RELEASE DATE: January 26, 2016

GENRE: Literary Fiction, General Fiction (Adult)

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | INDIEBOUND

A sweeping drama about the madness of war and the power of love that marks acclaimed novelist Sebastian Faulks’s return, after twenty years, to the fictional territory of his #1 international bestseller Birdsong

London, 1980. Robert Hendricks, an established psychiatrist and author, has so bottled up memories of his own wartime past that he is nearly sunk into a life of aloneness and depression. Out of the blue, a baffling letter arrives from one Dr. Alexander Pereira, a neurologist and a World War I veteran who claims to be an admirer of Robert’s published work. The letter brings Robert to the older man’s home on a rocky, secluded island off the south of France, and into tempests of memories–his childhood as a fatherless English boy, the carnage he witnessed and the wound he can’t remember receiving as a young officer in World War II, and, above all, the great, devastating love of his life, an Italian woman, “L,” whom he met during the war. As Robert’s recollections pour forth, he’s unsure whether they will lead to psychosis–or redemption. But Dr. Pereira knows. Profoundly affecting and masterfully told, Where My Heart Used to Beat sweeps through the 20th century, brilliantly interrogating the darkest corners of the human mind and bearing tender witness to the abiding strength of love. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

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Book Review | When I’m Gone by Emily Bleeker

~ Danielle Olson ~ 1 Comment

BOOK REVIEW | WHEN I’M GONE

cover77538-mediumTITLE: When I’m Gone

AUTHOR: Emily Bleeker

PUBLISHER: Lake Union Publishing

RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2016

GENRE: Women’s Fiction, General Fiction (Adult)

PRE-ORDER LINKS: AMAZON

Dear Luke,
First let me say—I love you…I didn’t want to leave you…

Luke Richardson has returned home after burying Natalie, his beloved wife of sixteen years, ready to face the hard job of raising their three children alone. But there’s something he’s not prepared for—a blue envelope with his name scrawled across the front in Natalie’s handwriting, waiting for him on the floor of their suburban Michigan home.

The letter inside, written on the first day of Natalie’s cancer treatment a year ago, turns out to be the first of many. Luke is convinced they’re genuine, but who is delivering them? As his obsession with the letters grows, Luke uncovers long-buried secrets that make him question everything he knew about his wife and their family. But the revelations also point the way toward a future where love goes on—in written words, in memories, and in the promises it’s never too late to keep. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

MY THOUGHTS

Last night I couldn’t put this book down and ended up finishing it at 1am, but it was definitely worth losing a few hours of sleep. When I’m Gone is one of those books that made me “react” to things that would unfold and the twists and turns that were revealed. At one point my husband (who isn’t a reader) asked me why I have to react to everything in the book. When I say react (my fellow readers will know what I’m talking about), I mean gasps, sighs, and a little bit of commentary mixed in. I just looked at him and said “when it’s a really good book, you can’t help but react”. That’s what this book is.

When I first started reading this book, I thought it might be exactly like P.S. I Love You in reverse (wife dies and husband gets romantic love letters), but it’s so much more than that. The letters Luke Richardson receives aren’t even that romantic and has much more to focus on then just his wife passing away. He has three kids to take care of and he has to deal with knowing that his wife kept a very big secret from him that brings up unwanted memories from his past.

Here’s a quote that I think will tell you more about the plot without giving away anything:“The only positive thing about dying is knowing I won’t have to see your face when you find out all the reasons you should hate me. Maybe that’s my final gift – when you find out all my secrets, you’ll be glad I’m gone.”

There was a point in the book when I thought I knew what was going to happen, but I was pleasantly surprised that I couldn’t predict everything. I really enjoyed those twists and turns I mentioned. Emily Bleeker really knew how to keep you interested and I couldn’t wait to figure out who was sending the letters and what his wife’s secret was.

Overall, I would highly recommend When I’m Gone. It’s a riveting novel about love, loss, and explores the thought that you might not know the people close to you as well as you thought. It keeps you guessing and keeps you wanting more.

OVERALL RATING

5-gold-star-rating

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | TWITTER

emily-10

Emily lives in suburban Chicago with her husband and four kids. Between writing and being a mom, she attempts to learn guitar, sings along to the radio (loudly), and embraces her newfound addiction to running.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing for providing a copy of this book for an honest review.

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Book of the Week | We’ve Already Gone This Far by Patrick Dacey

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cover78685-mediumTITLE: We’ve Already Gone This Far

AUTHOR: Patrick Dacey

PUBLISHER: Henry Holt & Company

RELEASE DATE: February 16, 2016

GENRE: General Fiction (Adult)

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | INDIEBOUND | GOOGLEPLAY

A heartfelt, vital collection; the debut of an exciting new talent already hailed as one of George Saunders’ “favorite young American writers”

In Patrick Dacey’s stunning debut, we meet longtime neighbors and friends–citizens of working-class Wequaquet–right when the ground beneath their feet has shifted in ways they don’t yet understand. Here, after more than a decade of boom and bust, love and pride are closely twinned and dangerously deployed: a lonely woman attacks a memorial to a neighbor’s veteran son; a dissatisfied housewife goes overboard with cosmetic surgery on national television; a young father walks away from one of the few jobs left in town, a soldier writes home to a mother who is becoming increasingly unhinged. We’ve Already Gone This Far takes us to a town like many towns in America, a place where people are searching for what is now an almost out-of-reach version of the American Dream

Story by story, Dacey draws us into the secret lives of recognizable strangers and reminds us that life’s strange intensity and occasional magic is all around us, especially in the everyday. With a skewering insight and real warmth of spirit, Dacey delivers that rare and wonderful thing in American fiction: a deeply-felt, deeply-imagined book about where we’ve been and how far we have to go. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

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Book of the Week | Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves

~ Danielle Olson ~ Leave a comment

cover74034-mediumTITLE: Work Like Any Other

AUTHOR: Virginia Reeves

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster

RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016

GENRE: General Fiction (Adult)

PRE-ORDER LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | BAM! | INDIEBOUND

In this astonishingly accomplished, morally complicated, “exceptional and starkly beautiful debut” (Kevin Powers, National Book Award–nominated author of The Yellow Birds), a prideful electrician in 1920s rural Alabama struggles to overcome past sins and find peace after being sent to prison for manslaughter.

Roscoe T Martin set his sights on a new type of power spreading at the start of the twentieth century: electricity. It became his training, his life’s work. But when his wife, Marie, inherits her father’s failing farm, Roscoe has to give up his livelihood, with great cost to his sense of self, his marriage, and his family. Realizing he might lose them all if he doesn’t do something, he begins to use his skills as an electrician to siphon energy from the state, ushering in a period of bounty and happiness. Even the love of Marie and their child seem back within Roscoe’s grasp.

Then a young man working for the state power company stumbles on Roscoe’s illegal lines and is electrocuted, and everything changes: Roscoe is arrested; the farm once more starts to deteriorate; and Marie abandons her husband, leaving him to face his twenty-year sentence alone. Now an unmoored Roscoe must carve out a place at Kilby Prison. Climbing the ranks of the incarcerated from dairy hand to librarian to “dog boy,” an inmate who helps the guards track down escapees, he is ultimately forced to ask himself once more if his work is just that, or if the price of his crimes—for him and his family—is greater than he ever let himself believe. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

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Book of the Week | Written on My Heart by Morgan Callan Rogers

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cover77532-mediumTITLE: Written on My Heart

AUTHOR: Morgan Callan Rogers

PUBLISHER: Penguin Group Plume

RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2016

GENRE: General Fiction (Adult)

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | INDIEBOUND

The marriage of Florine Gilham and Bud Warner is cause for celebration down on The Point, the Maine fishing village where they’ve grown up together. Yet even as the newlyweds being their lives together, Florine is drawn back into the memory of her mother, Carlie, who vanished when Florine was twelve.

As unexpected clues regarding Carlie’s fate surface and problems mar their young marriage, Florine and Bud face the challenges of trying to solve an old mystery while sustaining their marriage, holding on to love and trust, and raising a family. Ultimately, they find themselves being led down a strange path bordered by memory, struggles, and triumph, even as they are reminded of the power of family—the one you are born into and the ones forged by friendship. This unforgettable sequel to Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea contains its own unique heartbeat, as well as the pleasure of re-acquainting readers with old and new friends (Description found on Morgan Callan Rogers Website)

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Book of the Week | The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

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cover62926-mediumTITLE: The Quality of Silence

AUTHOR: Rosamund Lupton

PUBLISHER: Crown Publishing

RELEASE DATE: February 16, 2016

GENRE: Mystery & Thriller

PRE-ORDER LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | INDIEBOUND

The gripping, moving story of a mother and daughter’s quest to uncover a dark secret in the Alaskan wilderness, from the New York Times bestselling author of Sister and Afterwards

Thrillingly suspenseful and atmospheric, The Quality of Silence is the story of Yasmin, a beautiful astrophysicist, and her precocious deaf daughter, Ruby, who arrive in a remote part of Alaska to be told that Ruby’s father, Matt, has been the victim of a catastrophic accident. Unable to accept his death as truth, Yasmin and Ruby set out into the hostile winter of the Alaskan tundra in search of answers. But as a storm closes in, Yasmin realizes that a very human danger may be keeping pace with them. And with no one else on the road to help, they must keep moving, alone and terrified, through an endless Alaskan night. (Description from Amazon)

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February New Releases

~ Danielle Olson ~ Leave a comment

FEBRUARY NEW RELEASES

cover64898-mediumTITLE: One More Day

AUTHOR: Kelly Simmons

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Landmark

RELEASE DATE: February 1, 2016

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

Don’t look away

No one wants to be the mother whose child disappears. It’s unthinkable, the stuff of nightmares. But when she turns her back to pay a parking meter, Carrie Morgan becomes that mother. Ben is gone, and more than a year later, it’s clear that he is never coming back.

Until he does…for just twenty-four hours, before once again vanishing from his crib without a trace. Rumors start to circulate through Carrie’s small town. Whispers that she’s seeing things. That her alibi doesn’t quite add up.

Her husband and friends start to think she’s crazy. The police start to think she’s guilty. As the investigation heats up, Carrie must decide what to share, and why. Because the crime is about to be solved… and her secret revealed. (Description by Netgelly.com)

cover65672-mediumTITLE: In Another Life

AUTHOR: Julie Christine Johnson

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Landmark

RELEASE DATE: February 1, 2016

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

She has fallen for a man who shouldn’t exist

Historian Lia Carrer has finally returned to southern France, determined to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. But instead of finding solace in the region’s quiet hills and medieval ruins, she falls in love with Raoul, a man whose very existence challenges everything she knows about life—and about her husband’s death. As Raoul reveals the story of his past to Lia, she becomes entangled in the echoes of an ancient murder, resulting in a haunting and suspenseful journey that reminds Lia that the dead may not be as far from us as we think.

Steeped in the rich history and romantic landscape of rural France, In Another Life is a story of love that conquers time, and the lost loves that haunt us all. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

cover74250-mediumTITLE: The Flood Girls

AUTHOR: Richard Fifield

PUBLISHER: Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books

RELEASE DATE: February 1, 2016

GENRE: General Fiction (Adult)

This snappy, sassy redemption story set in small-town Montana is “a wild and crazy debut novel by a talented young writer” (Jackie Collins), filled with an uproarious and unforgettable cast of characters you won’t want to leave behind.

Welcome to Quinn, Montana, population: 956. A town where nearly all of the volunteer firemen are named Jim, where The Dirty Shame—the only bar in town—refuses to serve mixed drinks (too much work), where the locals hate the newcomers (then again, they hate the locals, too), and where the town softball team has never even come close to having a winning season. Until now.

Rachel Flood has snuck back into town after leaving behind a trail of chaos nine years prior. She’s here to make amends, but nobody wants to hear it, especially her mother, Laverna. But with the help of a local boy named Jake and a little soul-searching, she just might make things right.

In the spirit of Empire Falls and A League of Their Own, with the caustic wit of Where’d You Go, Bernadette thrown in for good measure, Richard Fifield’s hilarious and heartwarming debut will have you laughing through tears. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

cover75550-mediumTITLE: I’ll See You in Paris

AUTHOR: Michelle Gable

PUBLISHER: St. Martin’s Press, Thomas Dunne Books

RELEASE DATE: February 9, 2016

GENRE: General Fiction (Adult)

Michelle Gable’s I’ll See You in Paris winds together the lives of three women born generations apart, but who face similar struggles of love and heartbreak.

After losing her fiancé in the Vietnam War, nineteen-year-old Laurel Haley takes a job in England, hoping the distance will mend her shattered heart. Laurel expects the pain might lessen but does not foresee the beguiling man she meets or that they’ll go to Paris, where the city’s magic will take over and alter everything Laurel believes about love.

Thirty years later, Laurel’s daughter Annie is newly engaged and an old question resurfaces: who is Annie’s father and what happened to him? Laurel has always been vague about the details and Annie’s told herself it doesn’t matter. But with her impending marriage, Annie has to know everything. Why won’t Laurel tell her the truth?

The key to unlocking Laurel’s secrets starts with a mysterious book about an infamous woman known as the Duchess of Marlborough. Annie’s quest to understand the Duchess, and therefore her own history, takes her from a charming hamlet in the English countryside, to a decaying estate kept behind barbed wire, and ultimately to Paris where answers will be found at last. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

What new releases are you excited about this month?

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